La Vie En Rose
by Morralls
Summary: Sophie can read people like books. It's what she does; her thing. So when it looks like Nate is falling for Maggie again, the truth really surprises her.


Her cell phone rang, and Sophie Devereaux, grifter extraordinaire, glanced at the number, then answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Soph." Nathan Ford sounded distracted. "Can I get you to do me a favor?"

"What do you need?" Sophie asked automatically. Nate didn't need to ask her for a favor. She would do anything for him… even if he did love someone else.

"I need to decide what our next case will be. The files are in my office, but I can't get to headquarters to get them because my car won't start. Do you think you could go get them and bring them to my apartment?"

"Yeah, no problem. I'll see you soon."

"Thanks Soph." Nate said. He hung up and Sophie went out into the early evening, to her car. She wasn't in the habit of self-pity, but she made an exception this once. It had started two weeks ago, when she had run into Nate at the grocery store.

_She turned the corner to see some lunatic pacing the aisle, muttering to himself. She was about to go to the next aisle when the lunatic turned and froze._

"_Sophie!" He almost dropped one of the bottles of Champagne he was holding. "What are you doing here?"_

"_Grocery shopping." Sophie said slowly, raising an eyebrow at the champagne. "You're not getting both of those to drink, are you? Nate, you've got a-"_

"_No, no, no." Nate looked surprised. "No, I'm only getting one, to save for a day when I really need it. I just… don't know which one to get."_

"_Oh. Well, let's see." Sophie went to his side and looked at the bottles in his hand. She touched the one on the left. "I've tried this, and it's good." Nate looked at it for a moment, then put the other one up. _

"_Then I'll get this one." Sophie glanced at the basket that he was carrying, and he turned it quickly, blocking her view. "I've uh… I've got to go. I'll see you at headquarters." Nathan rushed away, leaving the bewildered grifter standing in the middle of the aisle, watching after him._

She hadn't understood why Nate had felt the need to hide the contents of the basket from her. It could only mean that he hadn't wanted her to see what was in it, and that disturbed her. What could Nate possibly want to hide from her? She turned onto the highway and set cruise control to save gas, considering the next time she had encountered Nate.

_She had expected the headquarters to be empty when she opened the door, but Nate's voice drifted down the hall. "Are you sure about that?" He was asking. Sophie tilted her head, listening for a reply, but didn't hear anyone else speak. She went to the doorway of his office and saw him, looking out the window and talking on the phone. "Okay. Thanks. It was nice talking to you." Nate chuckled at something. "Take care Maggie."_

_Sophie stepped away, her mind reeling. Maggie? Why in the world would Nate be calling Maggie? She dashed into her office. She had to avoid Nate, at all costs. He couldn't know that she had heard his conversation. He just couldn't. She listened intently at the door to her office for several minutes, waiting until she heard Nathan leave, then waited a few minutes for him to go to his car and leave. When she was absolutely sure that Nate wouldn't catch her, she left headquarters, forgetting the flash drive that she had come to get. _

___She frowned at the road and turned her radio on, then turned it back off again without listening to what was playing. She didn't want to listen to music. She wanted to know what was going on. She would think that Nate would avoid Maggie, because she was a reminder of the life that he had lost. But she had caught them on the phone, and later, at dinner together. _

_She was walking to her car, after having spent a truly impressive amount of money on clothes. She was looking in the windows of the stores she passed, when she walked by a restaurant and saw a very familiar mop of curly brown hair. She paused and looked in to see a woman sitting opposite him. She recognized Maggie, a few years older and a few years grayer. She remembered Nate telling her that his ex-wife was older than him. She stood there, looking in for several moments, observing them. When she was satisfied that they hadn't ordered their food yet, she went in and secured a table nearby, making sure that her back was to them. She listened intently to their conversation, straining her ears to hear what was said. _

_"I know that I should have done this a while ago, and I'm so glad that it doesn't annoy you." _

_"Honestly, I'm surprised it took you so long." Maggie told him, a smile in her voice. _

_"Well, there were complications, you know…" Nate said quietly. Maggie laughed._

_"Right. Sophie isn't too happy, I bet."_

_"No, she's really not." Nate chuckled, and tears swam in Sophie's eyes._

_"Miss? What can I get you?" A waiter was looking at her, pen at the ready._

_Sophie glanced at the wine menu and read the first one she saw. "Pinot grigio, please." She told him._

_"And for your meal?"_

_"Uh… the house specialty." She didn't know what the house specialty was, but she didn't really care. She just wanted the waiter gone. He nodded, took her menu, and left. _

_"And there will be music playing." Nate promised Maggie. Sophie frowned. What had she missed. _

_"Oooh. That sounds so romantic."_

_"But you know what they mean!" Some diner interrupted what Sophie could hear, and she gritted her teeth._

_"I'm really hoping that it's a good enough idea."_

_"Nate, it's perfect." Maggie laughed. "I had forgotten how sweet you could be."_

_"When I'm not being a self-righteous ass." Nate said. They laughed, and Sophie glanced at them to see Maggie reach across the table and take Nate's hands. Sophie turned around, tuning out their conversation. She couldn't hear any more. She stood up, put a fifty on the table, and rushed out to the peace and quiet of her car. _

___Sophie steered with one hand and hugged herself with the other, holding back a breakdown that was threatening to overtake her. She turned off the highway and parked on the streets. She didn't want to get the files, didn't want to see Nate. Not like this. The worst thing about being in love was that, even though you knew that it was over, and that your chance was gone, you loved anyway. She couldn't lose Nate, but she couldn't help it. She was so afraid of what she knew was inevitable. She didn't want to hear Nate tell her that he and Maggie were together again, even if she already knew it. She had known it since the phone call._

_The heist was under way, and Parker was on her way to steal the files. Hardison was watching the guards, and Eliot was waiting by the doorway. Nate couldn't be there, but he was still conducting them from his apartment, letting Sophie be his eyes with Hardison._

_"Okay, I'm in." Parker said triumphantly._

_"Good, because there are some security guards coming your way. They're a floor below you, making their rounds." Hardison said. _

_"Okay, Parker, get them and get out. No mistakes." Nate ordered. _

_"Got 'em." Parker snuck out the door and ran to the elevator._

_"No! They're using the elevators!" Hardison said. _

_"Stairs! Use the stairs!"_

_"We're fifteen floors up."_

_"They're at the elevators. They're coming."_

_"Go! Go go go!" Nate yelled into his comm. Parker scoffed, but wheeled around and dashed to the stairwell, Eliot on her heels. Parker rigged Eliot, then shoved him over the railing and jumped down herself. They glided to the ground and left the building calmly, portraying nothing unusual. ._

_"We're out." _

_"Good. Sophie, go pick 'em up and I'll see you all back at headquarters." Nate said. Sophie and Hardison went to the car and headed towards the building. Sophie parked outside and Eliot and Parker climbed in; Parker in the back with Hardison and Eliot beside Sophie._

_"Marcel Florist. How may I help you?" A voice asked through the phone. _

_"Hello, I'd like a bouquet of…. Oh… what are her favorite flowers?... Daisies! That's it. I'd like a dozen daisies delivered to Maggie Ford at the address __7004 West Higgins Avenue, Chicago, IL 60656." Nate ordered. Eliot watched as Sophie's hands tightened on the steering wheel. _

"_Do you want to send a card?"_

"_Yeah, um…"_

"_Isn't Maggie your ex-wife Nate?" Eliot interrupted. "Why are you sending her flowers?"_

"_Oh! Excuse me for just a minute please." Nate told the man on the phone. "Sorry guys. I forgot I had the earpiece in." Then, he dropped out of the conversation. Parker hit Eliot from the backseat._

"_OW! What was that for?" Eliot demanded. _

"_Now we don't know what the card was going to say, or why he was sending flowers to Maggie." Parker told him. _

_Sophie didn't have to ask. She knew. "I think that Nate and Maggie are getting back together." She said quietly. The thieves looked at her in awe._

"_What? What gives you that idea?"_

"_I saw them having dinner together, and I heard them on the phone. They seem happy." She shrugged, trying not to show how much the knowledge killed her. _

"_Sophie, that's ridiculous." Hardison told her._

"_I don't want to talk about it." The thieves fell silent, leaving her to her thoughts._

Sophie parked outside the office, turned her car off, and headed in. She stepped into the elevator, ignoring her inner turmoil. She hated her position. She had spent ten years waiting for Nate to love her, and when she finally got a chance, his ex-wife had extended her claws and stole him back from her. It wasn't fair. She walked through the halls and to the door to their headquarters, then opened it.

Starting at the door was a trail of rose petals that led down the hall. Sophie frowned, confused, but headed to Nate's office dutifully, which, incidentally, was where the rose petal trail stopped. She opened the door and froze, gazing at the office and wonder. Nate's desk had been pushed against the wall, and resting on it where two bouquets of assorted flowers and a large heart-shaped box of truffles. The room was lit by candles, which cast a rosy glow over the room. She looked around, confused.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Sophie." The grifter spun around to see Nate, smiling and offering her a flute of champagne. She recognized the bottle in his hand as the one she had selected in the grocery store that day.

"What? It's not…" She pulled out her phone and checked the date: Feb 14. "…Valentine's Day." Nate chuckled, soft and low. He walked past her, into his office, and she followed him, confused. "But, I thought… you and Maggie…"

"What?" Nate asked, smiling. "That Maggie and I were back together?" Sophie nodded, and Nate laughed. "No. She was giving me advice."

"Advice, about what?" Sophie still didn't get it.

"About all this. I called her and ran my ideas by her, so that I could be sure that you'd like this. She thought so."

"But… the daisies?" Sophie asked.

"Were a thank you. I sent her those with a card thanking her for her help. Then I ordered these for you." He touched a flower in one of the bouquets. "I'm lucky Eliot asked me about it when he did."

"I don't understand." Sophie told him. Nate sighed, picked up a remote, and turned his speaker system on. A familiar song drifted from the speakers.

_Des yeux qui font baiser les miens,  
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche,  
Voila le portrait sans retouche  
De l'homme auquel j'appartiens_

Nate put his champagne down and held his hand out to Sophie. She put her own champagne flute on the table and took his hand, letting him pull her close and start dancing.__

Quand il me prend dans ses bras  
Il me parle tout bas,  
Je vois la vie en rose.

"La Vie En Rose?" Sophie asked quietly. Nathan smiled.

"Oui." He replied. "Comme à Paris."

Sophie tilted her head and gave him a smile. "Je me souviens." She told him. He spun her in a slow circle, then pulled her close, letting her rest her head against his chest. She wrapped her arms around him and held him, trying to convey all her feelings in that simple gesture.__

Il me dit des mots d'amour,  
Des mots de tous les jours,  
Et ca me fait quelque chose.

Il est entre dans mon coeur  
Une part de bonheur  
Dont je connais la cause.

C'est lui pour moi. Moi pour lui  
Dans la vie,  
Il me l'a dit, l'a jure pour la vie.

Et des que je l'apercois  
Alors je sens en moi  
Mon coeur qui bat

Des nuits d'amour a ne plus en finir  
Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place  
Des enuis des chagrins, des phases  
Heureux, heureux a en mourir.

Quand il me prend dans ses bras  
Il me parle tout bas,  
Je vois la vie en rose.

Il me dit des mots d'amour,  
Des mots de tous les jours,  
Et ca me fait quelque chose.

Il est entre dans mon coeur  
Une part de bonheur  
Dont je connais la cause.

C'est toi pour moi. Moi pour toi  
Dans la vie,  
Il me l'a dit, l'a jure pour la vie.

Et des que je l'apercois  
Alors je sens en moi  
Mon coeur qui bat

The song ended, but Nate didn't let her go. "Sophie?"

"Mmh?" Nate pulled away and took Sophie's face in his hands, looking at her with an intensity that confused her.

"Pensez-vous que, pour une nuit, on peut tout ignorer de nous tenir en arrière? Pourrions-nous être simplement ensemble?"

Sophie stared at him for a moment, astonished, then smiled and took his hands, pulling his close enough for her to feel his shaky exhale. "Pour cette nuit, tu es le mien." She whispered the words, then closed the distance between him and pressed her lips to his. Her kissed her back for a moment, then pulled back.

"Je t'aime."

"Comme je t'aime." Sophie replied. Nate's eyes softened, and he pulled her back to him and kissed her like he had wanted to for ten years.

_Hold me close and hold me fast  
The magic spell you cast  
This is la vie en rose_

When you kiss me heaven sighs  
And tho I close my eyes  
I see la vie en rose

When you press me to your heart  
I'm in a world apart  
A world where roses bloom

And when you speak, angels sing from above  
Everyday words seem to turn into love songs

Give your heart and soul to me  
And life will always be  
La vie en rose

_I thought that love was just a word.  
They sang about in songs I heard  
It took your kisses to reveal  
That I was wrong and love is real_

_Give your heart and soul to me  
And life will always be  
La vie en rose_

Comme à Paris.**: **As in Paris

Je me souviens: I remember

Pensez-vous que, pour une nuit, on peut tout ignorer de nous tenir en arrière? Pourrions-nous être simplement ensemble?: Do you think, for one night, we could ignore everything between us? That we could just be together?

Pour cette nuit, tu es le mien: For this night, you're mine

Je t'aime: I love you

Comme je t'aime: As I love you.

Author's Note: I had to write a Valentine's Day story. I chose La Vie En Rose as the song because if I could put a song to how Sophie feels about Nate, it would be this one. If you want to listen to the song, go to youtube and look up Edith Piaf La Vie En Rose. It's a really beautiful song, and I honestly can't see Sophie and Nate characterized by anything other than old love songs, so there you go. The phrase 'la vie en rose' literally translates to 'life in pink', but is interpreted as 'life in love'. I also had to include the lyrics to the English version. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Read and review, please!!!


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